Cause and Effect
by MusicIsLife42
Summary: Every decision you make alters the future; some more so than others. When a poor choice is made, how hard will it be to make up for it? My first crack at a legitimate story. Mostly pokeshipping. M for language and sexual situations.
1. Introduction

**A/N: This story is a product of two lemons found in my "Alphabet Challenge," but you really don't have to read them first. In this story, each journey Ash took spanned a year, so he is 19. Also, I am writing this prior to the Kalos League airing on TV, so I made up his finishing place. I also made up a new region. This story was recommended by AshleyH30, and I liked it too, so shout out to him. Enough chat though; let's get this started!**

It's amazing how quickly everything can go downhill. One moment everything is going fine, and almost before you even realize it is there, you are stumbling down a seemingly endless slope. You grasp out for tree limbs, hoping they will save you, and on a rare occasion, they can, but more often than not, you are left in a free fall with your arms flailing.

Ash thought of this picture as he lay on his bed sheets, tormented by the thoughts in his head. He ran his hands through his hair, thinking of the mistakes he made, and if there was a way to fix it. He'd hurt the most important person in his life, and she had hurt him too. His mind flashed back once more to recall where he had screwed up at.

_**3 months before**_

By the time had could speak in complete sentences Ash had always known that he was going to spend his life as a Pokémon trainer. After eagerly waiting for his tenth birthday, he started his adventure at the first opportunity. His first year had humbled him slightly, but also given him confidence at the same time. He hadn't won like he expected to, but he still performed well for a rookie.

Winning the Orange League gave him another shot of confidence. He stepped foot in the Johto region next, but it did not go quite as well. Still, he had done fairly well, and he had enjoyed the journey thoroughly. Misty left his life at this point, returning to the gym. He "replaced" her with May and Max, a pair of siblings from New Bark Town.

He made it to the quarterfinals, which was the same finish he had accomplished in his previous league, but he did manage to conquer the Battle Frontier just one year later. Dawn became his traveling partner with Brock in the Sinnoh region, and he managed to reach the semi-finals that go-around. He was defeated heavily by Tobias, a man with a line-up of legendary Pokémon.

Despite being defeated fairly easily, Ash was encouraged by his highest finish yet. He took a step back in the Vertress Conference of Unova, traveling with new friends Iris and Cilan this time, being taken out in the quarterfinals once more. He ventured onto the Kalos region next, tearing through the gym battles to earn his spot in the league finals. He had a great feeling that this was going to be his breakthrough, but he was far off.

He was knocked out in the round of 16, defeated by a trainer seven years younger than himself. Clemont and Bonnie returned back to the gym that Clemont ran, but Serena wanted to stick around with Ash. At this point, even Ash could tell Serena had a crush, no, more than a crush on him. Not that he was opposed to going out with her, he just needed to travel alone, so he turned her away.

He attempted explaining to her that he needed to travel on his own for once, but she was still visibly heartbroken. The whole incident made Ash feel guilty, but he had to make the decision for his career. He had never traveled on his own for any extended amount of time, and he thought doing so might help him perform better.

Just as he had planned, he had more training time, and less distractions on the road. He missed the company of human beings, but he enjoyed the company of his Pokémon. He won all of his gym battles, not requiring a single rematch or "you deserve it anyway" badge that he had received in past regions. He called in his best Pokémon from Professor Oak before the tournament began.

He used Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Staraptor, Infernape, Krokodile, Samurott, and Garchomp in his rotation, only being allowed to use six in one battle, of course. He felt that if he wanted to advance further that he needed to use his strongest partners from all different regions, so he did just so.

All his training, preparation, and hard work amounted to next to nothing though. He was embarrassed in the quarterfinals, failing to knock out more than one of his opponent's six Pokémon. Contrary to his character, Ash gave up towards the end of the battle. He could tell he was outmatched after the opening minutes.

He flew out of the Shinto region that very night, wanting to return home. His stare was blank for a few days; it was obvious that a depression had fallen over the young man. His mother, Delia, chose not to interfere. As much as she wanted to, she knew that Ash had to deal with this problem himself. He had come to that point in life where his dream appeared impossible to achieve, and life lost its lust.

Now he was 19, and for the first time, the future was hazy. He felt that he had to give up on his dream of being a Pokémon Master, but he did not know what else he could do. He did not have a formal education past fifth grade, when he dropped out of school to go on his journey. Picking up a job would be next to impossible without so much as a high school diploma.

He had no education, no job, no ambition, and quite frankly, nothing positive to keep him going through this rough patch. He had yet to talk to anyone about his issues, not even Pikachu, so his endless thoughts swirled in his head without an escape route. Ash felt helpless; he had no one and nowhere to turn to.

One long week after returning home, Ash received a video call from his old friend Brock. After exchanging brief pleasantries, Brock got to the reason for his call. He was hoping to meet up with him and Misty while the three of them were all in the same region. He named a restaurant, and asked Ash to meet them there for lunch the next day.

"You busy tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah, I have plans." Ash lied.

It technically wasn't a complete lie. He was planning to do the same thing the next day that he had been for the previous week; mope. He still had not left the house since coming back. He hadn't felt like seeing or interacting with anyone just yet. However, he noticed just how long that he had been shutting himself in his room after he rejected Brock's offer, and he realized that he really did need to get out.

"But I can cancel them," He finished with a small smile.

Brock returned his smile, setting an exact time to meet, and hanging up the phone. Ash felt he had made the right choice. It was about time that he left his house and got back to real life. It was not likely that it could completely break the depression that he had, but it could maybe provide a break from it.

He headed back up to his room with something to look forward to for the first time since he departed Shinto.

XXX

Ash's eyes slowly opened up the next morning. The beeping of the alarm clock sounded on as Ash groaned from his awakening. As much as he wanted to stay in his bed longer, he had to make the obnoxious device shut up, so he threw the sheets off and got up. He lumbered over a couple steps to the dresser that his alarm clock rested on, and smacked at it repeatedly, eventually hitting the right button.

For the umpteenth time just that very week, Ash regretted not having his alarm clock within reach from the bed. He could hear his bed calling for him to crawl back in, but he remembered that he had plans at noon, and if he wanted to make them, he really needed to get moving. He trekked downstairs to the kitchen out of habit, but strangely enough, he did not find himself hungry.

He looked around for his mother, but she did not appear to be in the house, so he went ahead and got in the shower. The steaming hot water felt so good on his body that he stayed in there for about half an hour. By the time that he exited the shower and got dressed, his body was finally awake. Saying that he was full of energy would be a lie, but he did feel more upbeat than he had in days past.

The time was creeping up on 11 o'clock, which was when he was hoping to leave. He had to search through his room for a few minutes in hopes of finding his driver's license. He did not have a car, nor did he spend much time at home, so he did not keep it near him at all times like most young adults would.

He found his license in the back of a drawer on his dresser, and placing it his pants pocket, he scurried down the stairs. He picked up his jacket off the coat rack by the door, threw it on, and stepped outside. Despite spending the majority of his life outside, Ash was overcome by the beauty of the outdoors as he stepped onto the porch.

He hadn't been outside in an unusually long period of time for him, and he had almost forgotten what it was like. The sun was shining, yet it was not too hot. There were a handful of clouds in the sky, but there was no threat of rain. A small breeze hit Ash within seconds of standing in the outdoors, creating almost perfect weather.

All five of his senses were pleasantly affected when he entered the environment he was used to. It was enough for him to briefly forget about the troubles on his mind. He allowed himself to daydream, something he had not been able to do lately, until the sound of his mother's voice snapped him back into reality.

"Where are you going, honey?" She asked him from the front garden, seeing the car keys gripped in his hand.

"I'm meeting Brock and Misty," He said as he started moving to the car once more.

"When will you be back?" She asked.

"Don't know!" He hollered with his back to her.

Delia shook her head at her son, though it was probably the response she was expecting from him. She watched as he backed the black Ford Fusion out of the long driveway, and raced down the road at what appeared to be an over the limit speed. She was a little bit irked at his antics, but she was beyond happy to see Ash finally getting back into the real world.

Meanwhile, Ash noticed right off that he had not grabbed a GPS before he left. He had no idea how the roads were laid out, even in a city lacking many roads. He would have to rely on reading the street signs, which is a much more difficult task than it might sound to one who had never done so. A little bit of luck might have been required as well.

Surprisingly enough, 30 minutes later, Ash drove past a sign welcoming him to Cerulean City, where the gang had agreed to meet. Finding the restaurant proved to be the hardest task of all; the little café seemed to hide itself from any potential visitors. After circling through streets in irritation for nearly a quarter of an hour, Ash finally spotted his destination.

By the time he could find a parking spot, and walk inside, it was 11:50. Though he was five minutes late, Ash was pretty proud with himself for getting himself to the right place at nearly the right time. That was about as responsible as he could get. He spotted his friends, who were engaged in conversation, right as he opened up the door.

He stood still inside of the door, gazing at his first traveling companions. Misty, who happened to be the one facing the door, cut off her own sentence when her eyes glanced Ash's way. Her open mouth morphed into a smile at the sight of him. Ash attempted to grin back at her, but it had been so long since he smiled that it his lips sort of forgot how to.

Now that he had been spotted, Ash advanced towards the table and took the available seat. He looked left and right, back and forth, from Brock to Misty, and then from Misty to Brock. He had just seen Brock on the videophone the day before, but other than that, he had not seen either of them in a few years, and they both looked a lot different to him.

Brock still had spiky hair, but it had been cut back. He was the oldest of the group, yet he looked just as young as the other two. Ash could tell that he had been working out; his arms were a fair amount bigger, and his chest stuck out. Ash figured the only possible explanation for his improved physique would be an attempt to be more appealing to the ladies.

Misty still wore her hair in her signature sideways ponytail, and her face looked the same minus the minor changes that come with aging. Ash had always thought she was extremely pale, yet her skin tone was even lighter than he remembered. She was still a skinny girl, but the word scrawny could no longer apply. Her body had filled out, so she did not have a bony look.

"Well, Ash, how have you been?" Misty asked him.

Once the conversation got going, it never died down. Even though they had not been together in years, the group still found it easy to talk with one another. They stayed at the café, just enjoying conversation, for a while after they finished eating. Nobody had been watching the time because nobody had anywhere to be.

Unfortunately, that changed as a cell phone loudly sounded off. Brock snatched his phone from his pocket and answered the call as quickly as possible. Brock was no longer in charge of the Pewter City Gym, but clearly, Forrest, who was in charge, needed his assistance with something. Brock hung up the phone in irritation, stating he had to go.

"It was good seeing you guys; I hope we can get together again!" Brock rushed out the door hardly before Ash or Misty could process that he had to leave.

"I guess we should get going too," Ash stated to Misty unsurely, raising his voice like it was a question.

Misty nodded her head with an amount of reluctance, flashing a small smile in the process.

"Actually," she started, "If you don't have anywhere to be, I could show you around the gym. We made a few renovations."

"Sure!" Caught off guard, Ash hesitated in his answer, but there was no hesitation in his decision-making process.

Misty kindly calculated the 20% tip, knowing Ash would struggle with the math. They left the small, uncrowded restaurant, and drove the short distance to the Cerulean Gym, with Ash following behind Misty, who knew the way there. There was no parking lot at the gym, since all trainers made their journey on foot, but there was plenty of parking space on the side of a nearby street.

The outside of the building looked the same to Ash; a large circular building, with a predominantly yellow paint, though it had stripes of pink. A design of a wave wrapped around the roof of the structure, and a large Dewgong sat on top of that wave. Seeing the building reminded Ash of his very first journey, and nostalgic pains hit him hard.

Why did things have to change?

* * *

**A/N: I have had less free time than I anticipated, and honestly, when I have had some, I have not been writing. It just hasn't sounded appealing to me, and I know the quality of my products will suffer if I feel forced to write something. I have not even started on the journey story that you all voted on; it might have to be pushed all the way back to next summer unfortunately.**

**It will likely be weeks, maybe even months until I can get this story updated. My goal is to get it done by the end of the January, but that is a rough estimate, since I have no clue how lengthy this story will turn out.**

**Please feel free to critique me in the reviews! Writing a chaptered story brings on new challenges, such as where to end a chapter. I'm not too happy with how this one ended. I'm rambling now.**

**Adios!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I apologize for my recent inconsistencies. I've pushed my writing to the side, because it honestly never has and never will be my top priority. I do enjoy writing when I have the spare time and motivation, but one or both of those have been missing for quite some time now.**

* * *

Thinking back to his travels, Ash remembered showing up to the gym despite Misty's protests, searching for his second gym battle. Instead, he was handed the Cascade Badge by the Sensational Sisters, who did not care enough to battle him for it. He found it a little strange, but he gladly accepted it.

Enraged at their antics, Misty revealed the fact that she was their younger sister, and she took over duty as a gym leader for that one afternoon. Unbeknownst to everyone at the time, she would end up taking that role permanently a few years later after her sisters abandoned the post.

Ash reminisced on the older days- the adventures, the friends, the fun, the battles- all the things that Ash wished he could still have. Though he had yet to announce it to anyone but himself, Ash already felt saddened at the lifestyle change that was going to accompany his career change. He wanted to stay a Pokémon trainer; it was his true passion.

"Ash!" He realized he was daydreaming at the sharp call of his name.

Misty gave him a questioning look, wondering what he could be so deep in thought about. She opted not to ask him about it, but she made a mental note of the incident. Now that she had regained his attention, she began walking towards the gym entrance with Ash following suit. Opening the dual glass doors, she welcomed Ash into the building with another gentle smile that she had become accustomed to using.

Ash followed Misty to the training pool with his main focus being to not let his melancholy mood show. Once they reached the end of the pink-walled hallway and turned the corner, Ash's eyes opened in surprise. Before him laid an Olympic sized pool, fully capable of serving home to all the Pokémon of the Cerulean Gym.

"Wow, this must keep your Pokémon in great shape, huh? He marveled.

"You bet! How about I show you with a battle?" Misty proposed.

She expected an immediate "Yes!" to fly from Ash's mouth, but instead his face dropped and he appeared lost for words, which served as quite the surprise to her. The Ash she remembered always looked for a battle.

"Maybe some other time," He answered after a few seconds of contemplation.

"That's fine." She said, dismissing the notion of a battle, and instead, leading him down more hallways.

Misty made note of more unusual behavior from Ash. Still, though, she refrained from commenting on her observations. He spoke of his failures in the Shinto region at lunch, but other than that, he never brought up anything that was bothering him. Based on his disorientation, her first guess was that he was dealing with a break-up, but she never remembered hearing that he had a girlfriend.

"This," She said with a dramatic pause, "is our new stage."

Through the doors lay an enormous pool, with 60x30 meter dimensions. The distance between the ends was so great that a trainer on one end likely would have a tough time hearing the trainer on the other end. The water itself was clear and about twenty feet deep. Surrounding the massive battlefield were large sections of bleachers, primarily used for when a water show took place.

"Wow," Ash remarked, "This place sure is different than the last time I was here."

"I know, isn't it great?" Misty gleamed in her response.

"Uh… Yeah. I guess it is." Ash said in a half-hearted attempt to agree with her.

That served as a third strike in Misty's mind, and as a friend, she felt obligated to get to the bottom of whatever was affecting him.

"Is something wrong, Ash?" She finally asked.

"No," He lied instinctively.

"Don't lie to me." She said sternly, seeing straight through him.

Her hard look softened when Ash turned his head to look into her eyes. He gave her a look that admitted something was wrong, but he didn't really want to talk about it.

"You can talk to me Ash." She said in a voice slightly louder than a whisper.

Exhaling softly, Ash gave in; "Alright."

Misty said nothing while a long pause came into the conversation because she did not want to push her luck. She patiently waited for Ash to gather his thoughts and put them into words. Honestly, she was surprised that Ash had even caved in and agreed to speak to her since they had been separated for such a length of time.

"I'm done."

"What?"

"I'm done competing in leagues. I'm done chasing some lucrative dream of mine. I'm sick and tired of failing. I quit."

When Misty's brain finally attained comprehension of his words, she felt blindsided. It was a mixture of sickness, pity, and pure shock. Ash had always been so perseverant and determined when she had been close with him, and the thought of him quitting seemed inconceivable. Now another lengthy pause was present, and it was thanks to her this time.

"Why?" She finally mustered up.

"Why the hell did it take me this long?" He fired back to start his rant.

"Once I get to the biggest stage, I crumble. I lose _every time_. I can't do it. I just can't. No matter how hard I work, no matter how much I want it, no matter what I do, I can't win."

Strangely enough, Ash felt noticeably better once he finished talking. His stress had been bottled up for so long that if felt incredibly relieving to finally let it out to one of his friends. He now expected to fend off an argument from Misty on why he should never give up, but what she actually said surprised him.

"Maybe you aren't meant to be a Pokémon Master," She replied.

It threw Ash off that she was basically agreeing with him, and it even surprised Misty a bit that those words slipped from her mouth. She had been witness to Ash fulfilling the ancient prophecy and saving the world back on Shamouti Island, which was the day that she was convinced that Ash would end up reaching her dream.

"But that doesn't mean you have to quit altogether." She followed it up with.

"What do you mean?"

"We all know that Pokémon are your passion, so you can always find other ways to work with them. You could try to be a breeder or doctor, like Brock, or even a gym leader, like me, if you want to stick with training."

Stunned at her idea, Ash pondered the situation briefly. His mind had always been so dead-set on reaching the top of the Pokémon training mountain that he had never even thought about other career opportunities in the field. Now that Misty brought it up, it sounded like such a simple idea that he was a little embarrassed that he had never seriously considered it himself.

"Yeah," He said with something resembling a small smile, "Maybe."

As enticing as the idea seemed, Ash waited before getting all worked up about it. He would certainly give it some thought, and it certainly made him a feel a little bit better right off the bat, but there was still a little part of him that could not happily resign to giving up on his childhood dream.

Misty gave it a rest, taking what she could get for now. Pushing Ash too hard would likely only make matters worse. Now that she had shown him the changes to the gym and gotten him to open up, she could not think of anything to say. A silence fell, yet it wasn't awkward. In fact, it was comfortable.

"Well, I guess I should go." Ash finally spoke up.

"Ok," She responded, "Just know you're welcome back here whenever you want,"

Turning away, he walked out at a moderate pace. Misty watched him in disappointment with him and herself. She was upset with him for being so down and distant, and she was upset with herself for starting to feel something flutter in her chest. It had taken so long to get over him when they parted ways years ago, and just one day of seeing him again already gave her some of the same, old feelings.

XXX

When Ash returned to his house, he went straight back to his room, where he had spent the majority of his time in the recent weeks. Again, he flopped onto his bed, closed his eyes, and ventured into the deep thoughts of his mind. This time, though, he had a few different thoughts to play around with after he opened up with Misty.

He figured it was time to give some serious consideration to the ideas that she had given him. Obviously, Pokémon had been his passion ever since he was born. From watching it on television as a young child, to researching them and watching them at Oak's ranch, to his time spent on the road with them, he had always had Pokémon in his life.

Life without them seemed foreign, and even impossible. Of all his experiences, battling had to be his favorite, and the idea of being a gym leader brought a few happy visions to his mind. He could picture himself now; he definitely would be the last gym leader in the region, and he would have the widespread reputation of being the toughest one to earn a badge of.

Maybe he could start a gym up in his home town of Pallet Town, and maybe he would use his best buddy Pikachu in an electric-type gym. Or maybe he could he go unconventionally forego having a type tendency and use any of his Pokémon, much like a champion of the elite four.

Just like that, with the mention of the word champion, the thought of never reaching the status of champion hit Ash again. His happy glimpse into the potential future halted, and frustration for his failures took over just as quickly as they had temporarily left. Now it felt like a vicious cycle, where he could not keep the depressing thoughts out of his head for long.

Misty had made him feel a little better about his situation, and he felt compelled to go and see her again. He'd just returned home from her company at the gym though, so driving back over there hardly seemed like the right thing to do. Besides, he did not want to bother her.

Staying in his room for the next few hours, Ash tried to preoccupy his mind with some TV, but to no avail. Only minutes after turning it on did his mind slip away from the program, turning the noise from the speakers into simple background sound for his brain. His thoughts were only interrupted by his mother's call.

"Supper's ready, Ash!" She hollered from the kitchen downstairs.

Slowly rolling out of bed, Ash made his way downstairs. The sweet scent from the meal his mother had prepared reminded him of how hungry he was. As he normally did, Ash scarfed down everything on his plate in just a couple of minutes, finishing with a satisfying lick of the lips, while his mother rolled his eyes at his poor manners.

"I think I'm going to head back out." He suddenly blurted, jumping from the table.

Since her mouth was full of food and she had enough manners not to talk with food in her mouth, unlike Ash, Delia could not ask where he was going before he was already out the door. Again, she found herself frustrated at how he was acting, but she figured it still must be a good thing for him to be leaving his room.

XXX

Ash flew down the small two-lane road in a manner that surely would have gotten him a ticket had there been any cops staked out in the area. His eyes stayed focused on the road, but his concentration was far from it. Luckily for him, no other cars were present at the time. Somehow, he subconsciously navigated his way safely back to Cerulean City.

When he finally reached his destination, Ash shut the car off and stayed in the driver's seat. He realized how rashly he'd just acted, and now pondered whether or not he was making the right decision. His nerves almost got the best of him and he came close to starting the car again to head home. Deciding that he might as well go in after taking the time to make the drive, Ash stepped outside the car and made his way towards the gym.

Bright lights were visible through the glass door, so Ash let himself inside. It seemed a little late for the gym to still be unlocked, but Ash didn't give this much thought, with so many others on his mind. Misty was nowhere in sight, prompting him to walk around for a little bit in search. Turning the corner to the training pool that he had been shown earlier, he caught a glimpse of her.

Now that he had finally found her, he froze up again. Calling out to her seemed impossible, as did walking any further. As all awkward moments do, this period of time lasted forever, with Misty failing to notice her visitor, who stood silently at the doorframe. Once she finished pouring out food for all of her Pokémon, Misty turned around and noticed Ash with a startle.

"Hey," She said in a confused, uneasy voice.

"You, uh," Ash paused uncomfortably, "Said I could come back whenever, right?"

"Yeah, of course! I just didn't expect you back tonight is all…"

Immediately, Ash regretted his decision to return. Feeling like his presence was an unwanted intrusion, he debated turning around one last time. He had felt a certain urge to stop back here, but he now realized that he had no idea what his actual reason was. Before he could make his abrupt exit, his weak mind was swayed again.

"My sister's aren't going to be here tonight, so I can set you up in one of their rooms if you want."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ash accepted now that he felt welcome.

Apparently, Misty had gone for a swim not long before he had arrived, and he was suddenly very aware of her attire. Her green bikini was modest and completely covered everything it needed to, but most of her body was still in plain sight. Like just about any guy, Ash was strangely compelled to take good notice of her figure.

Another flashback popped into Ash's mind after he got a good look at her. This time he pictured the first time that he, Misty, and Brock went to the beach, and he had stupidly remarked that Misty "actually looked like a girl," which resulted in him getting hit in the head. Her body was even more fit now than it had been that day many years ago.

When Ash finally snapped out of his little daydream, he realized that Misty had already walked away. Now he faintly remembered her saying that she would be back in a minute, but he obviously had not been listening closely. He also suddenly realized that there was a very good chance that he been caught staring at the red head.

After mentally scolding himself for his stupid mistake, Ash looked around nervously, waiting for Misty to come back. Pulling his phone out to pass the time, he also made not of the current time. He was shocked to see that it was already past 10:00. Apparently, he had spent more time in the car than he had thought. Soon enough, Misty came into sight, wearing pajamas now rather than a swimsuit.

"Well I'm sorry to go to bed right when you get here, but I'm really tired." She told him upon return.

"Let me at least show you to your room first, though."

"Alright," He responded.

Following her around the corner, through the hall, and up the stairs, Ash felt better in the presence of his friend, just as he had earlier. Misty took him to the second bedroom on the left, which she said normally belonged to Violet. Before she left for her room, Misty said goodnight and opened her arms to give Ash a quick hug.

Embracing Misty back, Ash felt another urge to do something, only this time he had a much better idea of what it was for. Holding her close created a warmness inside him that had been absent for so long. Misty pulled away after a few seconds, but she did not leave just yet, sensing that Ash still had something he wanted from her.

Waiting patiently for him to speak up, Misty stayed right in front of Ash, with their faces a mere foot apart. No movement or sound was made by either person for a few moments. Suddenly, Ash broke the stillness with an action that neither he nor Misty had been expecting. Moving his head forward quickly, Ash pressed his lips against hers.

Before Misty could even comprehend what had happened, Ash pulled away. The lack of reciprocation terrified him, making him think that he had ruined their friendship with a stupid, instinctive decision. Just as he was going to apologize and leave the room, Misty leaned back in and initiated a kiss of her own.

Just as Misty had been moments before, Ash was caught off guard by her move, and it took him a minute to react. Once he finally kissed her back, a current of electricity ran from his lips all the way down to his toes. Misty felt a similar jolt of warmth strike inside of her body, and without thinking about it, she deepened the kiss, and even started a little tongue action.

The rest of the world seemed to fade away as the young couple melted into an intense make-out session. Impulse decisions took over for the fleeing outside thoughts, which led to some tugging on clothing. Shirts were off in a matter of seconds, prompting Misty to coax Ash into getting on the bed with her, their lips staying connected the whole time.

* * *

**A/N: I'll let you guys imagine the end of this chapter in order to keep this from becoming MA material. By the way, I've made a few updates to my profile, so you can know what you can expect from me, and I think I put up a couple of polls so you guys can tell me what you want to see. This story will get done at some point, but as I'm sure you can infer, it took me a long time to force this chapter out.**


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